Owners have now said the manor’s future is “at risk”
15:53, 24 Aug 2025Updated 15:54, 24 Aug 2025
Thornton Manor was previously used to host Brexit talks(Image: Liverpool Echo)
One error 14 years ago began a long saga that took a council all the way to court and led to a row that could still decide the future of a Merseyside country estate.
Thornton Manor Country Estate has applied once again for planning permission to reinstate three event marquees at the historic manor on Manor Road in Thornton Hough. The dispute over the marquees has been a long-running battle between the estate and Wirral Council.
The dispute goes all the way back to April 9, 2010, when Wirral Council received a planning application to have three marquees on the estate at The Dell, The Walled Garden, and the Lake. This was to be used for private functions and conferences.
However, the council deemed the development to be inappropriate and harmful to the openness of the green belt. Thornton Manor at the time argued the state of the grounds and gardens was at risk without the income from the tents.
The application narrowly got the nod from councillors, but this was with a time limit and other conditions. However, “for reasons that it has just not been possible to understand,” no notice was issued when it was supposed to, an incorrect one with no time limit was sent out, and three versions later appeared.
The error was corrected, and the planning permission expired in November 2016. However, when Thornton Manor had to apply for planning permission again in 2017, the error came to light and an investigation was launched.
In August that year, Thornton Hall Hotel Limited began legal proceedings, eventually taking it to the High Court. According to a 2019 council report, the investigation found “it was not possible to identify whether this incident was a system error, human error, or a combination of both,” adding: “The High Court concluded that the cause of the error, however, was likely to have been human failing.”
Thornton Manor then contested the High Court decision at the Court of Appeal in April the following year, but it upheld the lower court’s decision. Wirral Council then reassessed the application for the three marquees in 2019 and rejected it.
The council was accused by the court of “manipulating the planning register” but the local authority argued a notice issued in May 2012 “was not an attempt to manipulate the planning register but was done to reflect the committee decision without realising the implications and was done with the best intentions.”
A council report said Wirral accepted “poor administration and has never sought to hide the mistake since it came to light.” Wirral Council was ordered to pay 90% of the manor’s legal costs up to July 2017, costing it more than £31,000.
However, this was not the end of the matter, and it later went to the government’s Planning Inspectorate. They said the marquee must be removed within six months of that decision date.
Now more than 15 years after the original planning application, the whole saga looks set to repeat itself. Thornton Manor Country Estate are asking the public for their support on their latest planning application.
After the Planning Inspectorate decision in 2022, a fire ripped through the manor. The most likely cause was later deemed to be an electrical fault.
Faced with the costs of restoring the fire-damaged wing, a Thornton Manor spokesperson said: “Without the ability to host a sufficient number of events, the future of Thornton Manor as a preserved heritage site is at risk.
“These marquees are essential—not only for financial sustainability, but also for creating new local employment, volunteer opportunities, and support for local businesses.”